The Blue Jackets (31-35-4) will be in action for the second time in as many nights, as they take on the Canucks (40-25-4) in Vancouver on the next stop of their western Canada road trip.
Columbus had their warmup game last night against the Edmonton Oilers and, though the Jackets squeaked out a shootout victory, they certainly didn't play very well.
They were outshot significantly, and every player on the roster was a negative in terms of even-strength possession.
Now, even though it's been a bad year for the Jackets, that hasn't happened many times. Playing against a rested Canucks team in the thick of a playoff race it's worrisome to think of how ugly this game could be, though the Blue Jackets would be hard pressed to do much worse.
Despite last night's highly mediocre (at best) performance, the Jackets have generally been playing better of hockey of late, as their 5-5-0 record over the last 10 games would indicate.
Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno, Scott Hartnell and some of their big guns have made regular contributions, but what has put Columbus over the top on some nights has been the play of their young guns.
Marko Dano has been a human highlight machine of late, and was at it again last night.
Marko Dano's latest (almost) masterpiece. Guy does this every night. https://t.co/tHDP8Dg1Jh
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) March 19, 2015To think he's only just starting to see regular minutes, and will continue to get better makes it very exciting to be a Blue Jackets fan, even though their success has been limited this year.
Dano isn't the only young gun making waves. Alex Wennberg had a point last night, and scored the shootout winner against Edmonton for the second time in a week.
Alex Wennberg is alright. https://t.co/sAZrYhMcMX
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) March 19, 2015Impressive stuff from the kids.
Back to tonight's game, the Canucks are a much better 5 vs 5 team than Columbus. That means the Jackets will probably need another strong effort from their goaltending. Luckily for them, Sergei Bobrovsky is slated to start tonight.
It's been a down year for him by his standards, but he has still posted a respectable .913SV% despite dealing with some injury issues, and playing behind shaky defense.
If he can give the Jackets a solid performance they should have a chance, because the offense is starting to come with Dano, Wennberg and co. starting to produce. Columbus now has some legitimate scoring depth behind Johansen and Foligno.
What to watch:
1) Dano is really starting to come on of late, having recorded four points and 12 shots in his last four games while hitting everything that moves in the process. He's coming into his own and it's fun to watch.
2) Special teams will be big in this one. Both teams average over 11 penalty minutes per game, so both should get at least a few power play opportunities. Whoever wins the special teams battle likely comes away with two points.
3) Vancouver isn't loaded with big name players, but what they do have is scoring depth. 12 of their players have at least 20 points, while only seven Blue Jackets have 20+ points. What that means is the Canucks have some pop on each of their lines, and that Columbus will need a) solid defense and; b) good goaltending to win. If they allow almost 50 shots like they did against Edmonton it probably won't end well.
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